THE BI-CENTENNIAL MAN...

Today's immersion in the frigid lake was an important landmark in Todd's dive logbook.....his 200th dive this year. Since I am currently completing my PADI Underwater Photography Specialty, it was only logical that I would attend to take a few "Hero Shots" for our newly-appointed Club President. We entered the water at the old corvette launch near the Marine Museum this afternoon for a swim around the old wharf, and to examine the entry to the Alexander Henry's drydock. This being my first jaunt that far along the shoreline, I realized that there is even more to explore past the old familiar line out to the barge. We swam past an old anchor, tires, and some construction debris from this year's recent rebuild of the drydock. What we weren't expecting were the schools of Lake Shad that we encountered upon entry, and around the drydock area. See for yourself in this video:

... The fish were so abundant that Todd had to eat his way through the school (or he found himself a New Year's Eve date for this evening...) (pictured is Todd with fish-in-hand.... you be the judge on what he is doing...)

.... and last, but not least.. the best picture of the dive today:

Amazing what fish will do when you stay motionless at 15 feet for a safety stop.. They were as curious of me as I was of them.. Total dive time: a frisky 61 minutes, max depth: 37 feet, water temperature: a freezing 36 deg F.

D.O.G.s or Huskies..?

The weather's definitely getting colder - and the water temperature in the Lake too. But, that's when the viz starts to clear and the diving crowd starts to thin out. This morning - to celebrate Todd's 300th dive appropriately - three of us ventured forth to Howe Island to plumb the 'hidden' depths of the South Channel. Despite the lower water levels of this time of year, before the bottom started rising back to Wolfe Island in mid channel, we achieved 119'. It was a cool dive on at least two levels. First of all, the water temperature was down to 43℉ (6℃) at the bottom and, secondly, it just an excellent, relaxed experience. Congratulations, Todd, on your 300th lifetime dive.

Great fish diversity

Last Tuesday Todd, Steve and I went for a nice little night dive in Portsmouth harbor. I have to admit, this dive was so far the best in term of fish diversity. I'll let you judge! These pictures were all taken on the same dive.

Smaller pike seen in the shallows on the way back by the pier

Lake shad

Catfish (minus a chunck on the face!)

Walleye seen chilling on the bottom under the pier close to the first opening

Sucker

BIIIGG pike seen on our way to the pier leaving from the line to the anchor

Family reunion of perches

Big Small mouth bass

Mudpuppy

Rock bass

Sorry, I didn't bother taking pictures of gobby, but obviously, they were there also.

See you next dive!

DOGs on the prowl..

Here's a link to a few minutes of video fun on the KGH wreck yesterday. If you have friends who wonder why you dive - and what you see, show them this...

City of Sheboygan in great shape..

Seven of us went out with Kingston Dive Charters this morning to dive the excellent wreck that is the City of Sheboygan. Conditions could only have been improved by a little bit more sunshine, but the Lake was relatively calm, and the visibility was superb. A water temperature of 52℉ (11℃) ensured that no one got unduly cold. A lot of video was taken - and a short edition of the highlights is on You Tube here..

Portsmouth Harbour Wrecks..

For all those who have not had the opportunity to visit the wreck fragments that lie just off the Breakwater at Portsmouth Olympic Harbour, here's a little video pulled together in October. To view it click here.

It comes as a complete surprise to most Kingstonians that these links to the City's maritime history are literally yards from shore.

Night Dive on the Wolfe Islander...

The Club organized another very successful night dive on the Wolfe Islander tonight (Thanks Todd). We were delighted to be accompanied by several well-equipped and well-trained divers from the Great Lakes Underwater Explorers. (They brought considerable candlepower to the wreck..!). Our last night dive on the Wolfe provided several great American Eel sightings - and this one was no different. The other picture above is of my patient buddy, who was content to hang around while I bothered eels and fiddled with camera settings..! For the record keepers, the water temp at depth was 52℉ (11℃). That beat the heck out of 3℃ back on the boat..!!! Many thanks to Frank and Proteus Diving for another great outing from Treasure Island.. The new onboard heaters below are the bees' knees...

Discontinued... You won't stop me from photography!

I got told some weeks ago that the batteries holder in my Sealife external flash unit was a discontinued piece and I could replace both of my broken holders... There was no way I was to pay around 600$ to replace my two flashes! There was no way I was to stop underwater photography either... Here is the solution to my problem (pictures below) !

I order cheap batteries holders online for 1,60$ and simply welded them in place to replace the sliding company one. The blue sticky tack is to minimize stress on the weld when I put in and remove the batteries. It works perfectly. I "test dive" today at Morton's wharf and manage over 75 flashes without any miss flash. I know that others suffer with the same problem or will eventually. Sealife is a awesome basic dive camera, but some pieces are made cheap! The next step is custom machined aluminium plates to replace the flashes's bases cracked many times. It will be done for next dive season. For now, good old epoxy will do the trick!

Good luck, and never give up underwater photography because of technical problems!

See you at my 150th dive Saturday!!

Quick and Dirty...

Don't get too excited by the headline, I'm talking about the video summary of yesterday's Pumpkin Dive.. Check it out here.. Many thanks to everyone who came out and supported the event. And apologies for missing most of you underwater. Next event, I'll do my little tour of the dive site AFTER capturing the participants... Oh well - nobody's perfect..!

Thank you Matt for the excellent title pic above

Rare encounter

Once again today at 1300h, Suzanne, Laurie, Matt and I hit Portsmouth harbor. I have to admit, this easy site haven't deceived me yet this season. The wave breaker always provide either massive schools of perches/basses or a dozen of big healthy basses.

Today was different. There was a little something better than the big basses. Laying on the bottom for a little nap was a rarely encountered Long nose gar. In a 143 dives yet, it was my second. I have the pleasure to share this short video of this funny looking fish.

You can also enjoy a nice video of the big basses often present at the end of the wave breaker.

Finally to give an idea of the site for those that haven't been under the wave breaker yet, here is a video of what it looks like.

See you next dive!